VIDEO: The Universal Hall remained "untouched" for a whole year, in front of the tin screens, the citizens made a wild parking lot for themselves

Photo: Free Press

The destroyed building of the Universal Hall, left without any construction activities for a whole year, without any announcement if and when its reconstruction will continue and, most importantly, who will continue it, does not seem to concern anyone. If it were otherwise, all the announcements, agreements and negotiations, which happened back in the fall, would have had some sort of conclusion by now and the works on the building would have continued.

The ruined hall, surrounded by tin fences, represents a sad image of what it once was – a cult building where all the cultural events and concerts important to Skopje life took place. Now it not only damages the environment, but the people of Skopje have also created a wild parking lot in front of it. On the side of the boulevard Partizanski Odeje, where, when the construction works were in progress, the protective posts were cut so that machinery could enter from here, now vehicles are parked when visiting one of the nearby cafes. Obviously, that doesn't concern anyone either.

Photo: Free Press

The cultural hall, which the City of Skopje began to reconstruct during the term of the mayor Petre Šilegov, stopped when Danela Arsovska took over the management of the city administration, because, as she said, the project had errors and was not safe. Then changes were made to the project, but the construction did not continue, although Arsovska promised to finish the project.

In the fall, after it was clear that the reconstruction would not continue quickly, the Ministry of Culture launched an initiative to take over the Universal Hall from the City of Skopje and finish the hall. The mayor had meetings with the Ministers of Local Self-Government and Culture, Risto Penov and Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska, and allegedly the work was agreed, that is, according to the statements made after the meeting, some formal and legal procedures remained to be completed, regarding the official request, consent, signatures and similar.

A few months after that meeting, the Minister of Culture made an announcement.

We requested a temporary takeover of the powers regarding the construction of the Universal Hall, but the procedure must be followed. We are waiting for the City of Skopje to give us an insight into the situation, but for three months we have not had any answer - said Kostadinovska-Stojchevska in a guest appearance on one of the televisions.

At the last session of the Council of the City of Skopje, the advisory group of the SDSM submitted an initiative for the Ministry of Culture to temporarily take over the hall from the City until the reconstruction is finished, but this initiative was not even put on the agenda for discussion. According to the explanation of the President of the Council, Trajko Slaveski and the President of the Commission for Culture, Straso Angelovski, they received a letter of intent from the Minister of Culture, in which she demanded that the investor of the Universal Hall be changed from the City of Skopje to the Government, i.e. to transferred the management of the hall while it is being built.

 On March 3, I responded to the minister and welcomed the initiative, and since it is about several legal matters that need to be harmonized, I requested a meeting with the minister and I expect it to happen very soon these days. After that meeting, I thought about convening a session of the Commission for Culture, in which we have representatives from all the advisory groups, to discuss all that, to discuss what we will discuss with the minister and then as a joint initiative by the Commission, that is, from all the advisory groups , to produce such an initiative. The reconstruction of the Universal Hall is too big a bite to feed petty vanities. Therefore, let's wait, talk with the Ministry, harmonize things - said Angelovski.

It is not known how far the negotiation went. After that performance on the pulpit, there is no information about what is happening and whether the Ministry will finally get the hall and start renovating it. However, things take an infinite amount of time, and the gym is still out of order - for the eighth year already.

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